The Beginnings of Public Education in North Carolina; A Documentary History, 1790-1840 is designed to trace the earliest efforts and struggles in North Carolina's move to establish government-supported public education. Charles L. Coon excerpts significant portions of primary documents such as newspapers, legislative journals, and legislative reports to provide a comprehensive picture of these early attempts. Volume I begins with a document from 1744 and ends with material from 1831. Volume II begins with items from 1832 and ends in 1839, the year in which the General Assembly passed the state's first public school law. North Carolina's first public school opened in Rockingham County on January 20, 1840, at the end of the period covered in these volumes.